


phantom (be still in my heart)

by pancakechi



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Angst, Art, Fluff and Angst, Gay Panic, M/M, Self-Hatred, Sharing a Bed, Teasing, akeshu - Freeform, goro uses expensive shampoos, i promise it's fluffy though, shuake, they are an old married couple i don't make the rules, v angsty at first though
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-13
Updated: 2020-04-13
Packaged: 2021-03-02 03:42:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,003
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23628649
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pancakechi/pseuds/pancakechi
Summary: a gunshot. the first time, goro was prideful. the second time, he was carrying akira kurusu to a motel.
Relationships: Akechi Goro/Amamiya Ren, Akechi Goro/Kurusu Akira, Akechi Goro/Persona 5 Protagonist
Comments: 5
Kudos: 164





	phantom (be still in my heart)

**Author's Note:**

> hi! after playing p5r, i was inspired to write some shuake! this is my first work for this fandom, so i'm sorry if they seem ooc or if this is badly written. i hope it's somewhat enjoyable! i have plans for other fics as well! please let me know what you guys think T-T

“You wanted to be acknowledged, didn’t you? To be loved?”

Goro grit his teeth together, the pain from being defeated by the Phantom Thieves and the bitterness in his cognitive self’s words sinking a hole right through his heart. He should’ve seen this coming, if he was being honest.

He was so used to being the Detective Prince, the one always planning ahead and being one step in front of others, however now, his own will for that facade was being used against him in the form of his shadow’s self. He tuned out the following words being passed around, instead gazing at the ground, a sad smile on his lips as he knew what he had to do.

There was no way Goro was going to survive. How could he have thought he could have overtaken his father? Given him the _justice_ that he oh so deserved and preached about. He was stupid. Goro Akechi was stupid.

Shadows suddenly began appearing left and right, the dizziness in his head making him want to scream, shout at any deity in the unbeknownst world why he had been forced to succumb to this pitiful hell of his life. As much as he didn’t want to admit it, his shadow was right. He was a fool, a mere puppet to everyone else's desires and wishes. Goro was placed at rock bottom as soon as he was born.

He heard the voices of the Thieves, trying to connect to his heart and let him know he wasn’t alone. Goro didn’t need more lies. He was done. 

“...take his place. ...delay his death.”

What was even happening anymore?

“Be a good boy Goro, you said you wanted his acknowledgement right? Or maybe it just comes off that way, considering you kneel to his every beg and plea. Such a useless idiot. _Kill them._ I’ll give you one more chance.” His shadow rambled as Goro began to stand, his chest heaving with exhaustion.

He pointed his gun. He pointed it directly at the charismatic and charming leader that everyone adored, _Akira_. Akira was everything Goro was not. He had a great support system, nice homemade meals and coffee everyday, the kindness and courage Goro lacked. Akira had a _family_. Goro _loathed_ him for it.

Goro’s auburn eyes burned like fire into Akira’s slate eyes, hidden beneath his mask. His long and raven lashes seemed to blend in with the inner rim. Akira’s lips parted, inhaling and exhaling. Goro couldn’t tell if the boy was nervous or laced with some twisted form of excitement. Maybe it was because of the fact Goro had a gun pointed to his own head. He wouldn’t hold it against him if that was the case; Goro deserved it after all he had done, especially to Akira.

“Time’s ticking, puppet.”

“You’re misunderstanding, the one who will disappear, is _you_.” He forcefully turned towards his shadowed self, giving himself whiplash, and pulling the trigger.

“Brat! You know how fucking useless you are?!”

_Yes. I know._

“Akechi!” Akira shouted, though to Goro it sounded so far away. Was he on a different planet? Or perhaps another galaxy. Goro couldn’t tell. All he knew in that moment before pulling the trigger on his gun yet again, except to hit the airlock button for Shido’s ship, was Akira pushing him out of the way, a flash of onyx overtaking his vision.

Goro saw red on the ground. An explosion of crimson staining his boots, as well as his lips. It began to dry in the cracks in between.

The partisan of the floor they were on divided up the way, a cheetah like approach as it soared upwards, separating him from the Phantom Thieves and entrapping himself with his cognitive puppet and _Akira_?

“Wha-”

“You’re… truly despicable.” He heard Akira mutter, then another _bang_ echoed throughout.

“Joker! What’s happening?”

“Leader, are you okay?”

“We have to go! How do we get you out?!”

The Phantom Thieves were frantic, very askew from their usual demeanor. Goro was still trying to place everything together.

“I’ll save you, Akechi.” A red hand was placed in front of Goro’s face, his eyes trailing up the sleeve, taking notice of the darker spot on the trench coat of the wearer, up to kind eyes set with hard determination. The mask was pulled up, and Akira seemed to reach the depths of Goro in that instant.

Had he taken a bullet for Goro?

It did not matter, as the matter at hand was there were still more shadows and they were _trapped_. At least, not to Akira, as he shouted the word Goro had heard too many times as of recent, _Persona_ , and a gash of light began to blind him, ash and smoke floating into the atmosphere as if a smoker was enclosed with them as well in that moment.

There he goes again, saving someone of absolutely no importance. Goro laughed lightly, holding his head in his hands and flicking the dried blood out of his bangs which had been exposed due to the rupture of his mask.

“We should hurry out of here before more sh-” Akira lumped over on the floor next to Goro, his blood from his gunshot wound that _should’ve been in me it was meant for me_ leaking onto the wood. His eyes were closed, his lashes now stark against his pearly skin. There seemed to be no more shadows around, and he assumes Akira must’ve said something to his team and they didn’t seem to be present in the area either, the only sounds being Goro’s breathing and the blaring alarm of the ship. The Thieves wouldn’t have abandoned their leader otherwise, _especially_ not with someone like Goro, who had murdered Akira, or his cognitive self, not too long beforehand.

“You just _had_ to save me huh? Is this what you call justice? Saving a murderer? You’re… quite odd, Kurusu.”

  
  


* * *

  
  


Akira weighed _way_ more than Goro anticipated. Currently, the Phantom Thief resided on Goro’s back in a piggyback ride style, the ladder holding onto his legs from the front. Akira’s face laid in the crook of Goro’s neck, his labored breaths tickling the shell of Goro’s ear. Every exhale made him squirm, his body feeling as if he had eaten that god forbidden takoyaki yet again. _Damn that stupid thing. That stupid festival._

After Akira just passed out on the ground, Goro seemed he had no other choice but to bring the both of them out of the Metaverse together. Of course, he only did it because he didn’t want his ass beat by the other Thieves, definitely not because his heart was panicking and worried thoughts rattled his skull. Definitely not. That was absurd.

“Mnh..” Akira mumbled, and Goro blanched. 

“Don’t moan while you’re on me like this... “ Of course he heard no reply back.

Goro at first didn’t know where to take the two of them. Akira was still bleeding out, though before they left the Metaverse, Goro made a makeshift bandage for the raven with his cape, however once they left it disappeared, along with the rest of their disguises. Now, Akira wore his average hoodie and jeans, while Goro was in his winter uniform, white shirt, tie loosened up, and vanilla slacks. He had to get them somewhere safe. Leblanc was too far away, and they would _definitely_ not be safe at Goro’s apartment. 

Next best thing was a motel. Thankfully, the area around the Diet building was filled with hotels and motels of the like, made for the rich politicians who often visited to be granted a place of lodging during their stay. It was risky staying at a place so close to the palace, however it was really their only choice at the moment.

When Goro walked to the front desk of the motel, he immediately got a weird look from the receptionist, however he was sure she’d seen worse in her lifetime, considering it was a _motel_ where lots of couples would hook up, shady drug deals took place, and of course the corrupted government employees planned their schemes.

“Akechi-kun?” She spoke, a lilt to her voice that gave off obvious confusion of _what is someone like you doing here with someone like that_?

“Yes, hello! You see, my friend here is pretty drunk right now,” _his blood is seeping into my back_ , “and I just wanted him to rest right away, is there any way I could get a room for tonight?” Goro asked politely, putting his facade on once again.

“Of course! You’re so kind helping your friend like that! You know what, your room will be on us tonight, please enjoy your stay. We’ll have complementary medicine and food delivered to your room to help relieve him of his, and your, stress.” The girl was obviously part of Goro’s harem, fawning over the fact that her dear Akechi was _so generous_ and _loving_.

“Oh, that’d be just lovely. However, could you please not put the room under my name? If any of my coworkers saw I was staying here tonight they’d think I was up to no good, no explanations allowed, haha.” _Lies_. There was some truth to that statement, in some ways however.

“Yes Akechi-kun, no problem! Thank you for choosing us to stay here tonight, your room will be on the second highest floor at the end of the hall. Here is your card key, have a wonderful night~”

_Yeah yeah. Whatever. Stop acting like a slut so publicly._

“Thank you, again. I’ll be taking my leave now.” Goro gave one last smile, taking the card while still holding onto Akira, and began his stroll to the elevator. He was somewhat thankful she was sending medicine, at least anything would be of help at this point, as Akira was literally bleeding out as he walked.

Of course, Goro was used to patching himself up after palaces and travels to the Metaverse, so he always kept a little first-aid kit in his inner blazer breast pocket. Painkillers would be very helpful right now too, at least to ease the pain Akira was feeling. _Why do I even care about his pain? I hate him_.

The floor Goro had been assigned to required the key card entry in the elevator to even be allowed to go to that floor. _Damn, she must really have the hots for me._ Surely the room was going to be high class, being so far up.

Eventually, he found his way to the end of the hall like she mentioned, and quickly inserted and removed the card in the door, then pressed it open, revealing a grand suite… with only one bed. Of course that would be the luck he got, but it was better than nothing. There were times when Goro was thankful for being “famous”, and this was one of them.

Goro draped Akira onto the bed, all his exertion leaving him in that moment as he collapsed beside him, finally gaining a moment of rest after carrying the boy around for so long. As soon as Goro had laid down, he got back up, furrowing his eyebrows as he looked at Akira unconsciously on the bed.

He had to fix up his gunshot wound stat… and doing so would mean Goro would have to take off Akira’s hoodie. Then his shirt. _Sigh_. It wasn’t a big deal. It truly, indescribably wasn’t. However if that was the case, which it _obviously_ was, then why was Goro having such an inner turmoil with himself? His hands became clammy all of a sudden, and he felt his hair sticking to his skin with the sweat that started building up.

Pushing… whatever that was.. out of the way, Goro finally made the decision to unizip Akira’s hoodie, which was now wet and smelt of metallic, and discarded it on the floor. He’d have to wash it later. _Wait no!_ _Kurusu can do his own laundry!_

Then it came time for the raven’s shirt. The pristine alabaster color was now drenched in sanguine near the lower left, buttons also stained with a darker, more dried crimson. Goro scrunched his face at the sight. He didn’t know whether it was because of the smell overwhelming him or the fact this was _Akira’s_ blood. Why would that have mattered though? He had shot a bullet right through his forehead before, seen the blood splatter pleasingly onto the interrogation table. Why was this so different?

Goro’s fingers reached out, beginning to undo the buttons that laced themselves up Akira’s shirt. Goro was absolutely _livid_ at how much his cheeks were burning when the last button came undone, revealing a pale chest, and slightly toned abdomen. Akira’s ribs became prominent every time he took a breath.

The blood around the wound had seemed to stop leaking out like it was earlier, but it still required immediate medical attention. Goro wasn’t a doctor by any means, but he did know somewhat about bullet wounds, not only from his time being a killer, but also from his line of detective work. They weren’t too hard to manage, in his opinion. He was sure Akira had been through worse anyways, so hopefully when he woke up he wasn’t resentful, at least not right away.

Putting his feelings aside, Goro took a deep breath, pulling his gloves off and getting out his materials to try to fix Akira somewhat. Eventually he heard a knock at the door too, most likely signalling the medicine and complementary food the motel was providing. It would’ve been awkward if Goro opened the door, hands all bloody and a needle in hand, so he opted to just yell out for them to leave it outside and he would gather it later. Hopefully another guest wouldn’t take the items, but it seemed no one else was really residing on that floor at the moment anyways.

* * *

  
  


When Akira woke up, he was _warm_. Very warm, and the soft scent of honey infiltrated his nose. It smelled _heavenly_ , he needed more of it. He snuggled into the smell moreso, his arms wrapping around a waist and _why is my side hurting?_

That’s when he snapped his eyes open, the bleariness of the light in the room making his retinas hurt, before they adjusted and Akira took in his surroundings. _This wasn’t Leblanc_.

He took notice of the archangel painted ceiling, a simple recreation of the Vatican, the morning glow from the sun hitting the chandelier hung in all the right places, emanating a golden aura throughout the room. A giant TV, wooden flooring, a lounge chair with a discarded blazer of a certain detective.

_A certain detective_.

Akira turned to his right, his breaths immediately stopping when he took in the sight before him: _Goro Akechi,_ shirtless, and fast asleep. He had bruises lined along his torso, bags under his eyes, his caramel hair spread about the pillow like a halo. Akira _blanched_. _Did we fuck?!_ If that was the case, Akira must have been _super_ rough to cause that many bruises on the brunette’s body.

He then noticed that he himself was shirtless too, and looked down, seeing the stitches barely poking out from beneath a bandage wrapped around his body. Oh, that’s right, he’d been shot.

_Did Goro save me?_

That didn’t matter though. What mattered was Akira had just slept with _Goro Akechi_ , Japan’s most loved high school detective, and he now knew that his hair smelled like honey and that it was his new favorite scent in the entire universe.

Akira wanted to lay back down, wrap his arms back around Goro and snuggle into his neck like he had been before waking up, but his fantasy all came crashing down as said person sat up, staring blankly at Akira before realization settled in.

“Y-You might as well put your shirt back on now that you’re awake…” He stammered out, tucking his cocoa hair behind his ear. _Cute_.

“You saved me, huh.” Akira’s lip quirked.

“What? Don’t flatter yourself. I was only… doing it so your little team didn’t witch hunt me. Obviously.” Goro Akechi was many things, one of them being an infamous liar, however this lie, Akira practically _drowned_ in.

“Uh huh, you know, it almost feels like this was a whole scheme for us to sleep together, don’t you think?” 

“ _Sleep together?!_ I merely saved your ass from bleeding out on that asshole Shido’s ship! Don’t misunderstand, your act is starting to piss me off, Kurusu.” Goro spat, though there was hardly any venom behind it.

“So you admit it, you _did_ save me. I shouldn’t have expected less from the Detective Prince~” Akira chirped, grabbing his now unsoiled shirt from the night stand, _oh Goro_ , and gently pulling it over his head, wincing slightly as his side shot seething pains up his body.

“Oh shut up, you and I both know I have no right to that name.” Goro sighed, grabbing his shirt as well and slipping it on.

“Akechi, I’m really so touched you thought of me. See, that’s why I saved you back there in the Palace. Despite you being an asshole sometimes, little Goro has such a soft spot, especially for _me_.” Teasing Goro simply became one of Akira’s new favorite things, seeing how worked up the other got over it. It made Akira feel tingly inside as well.

Goro snapped his head towards Akira. “I shot a fucking bullet through your skull, I won’t hesitate to do it again you know…” 

“Your blush says otherwise.”

“I’m not blushing! You simply made the bed too fucking hot!”

“Yeah, because of my absolutely stunning looks? I know.”

“Shut the fuck up Kurusu.”

“Yes, honey.”

They’d have to have a serious talk about the events that took place later, but for now, Akira thought they both deserved to enjoy some time to themselves, as if they were normal teenagers with adoration for each other. The latter wasn’t a false truth.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading! also, i'm not knowledgeable when it comes to how bullet wounds are treated so take that whole thing with a grain of salt lmao. comments and kudos are appreciated! also yes that is my drawing it's so bad AHAHA i've only drawn goro a few times though and i'm not too fond of my digital art skills so T-T


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